Elegy
by blangyouredead
Summary: It's funny how you just cannot forget things like watching all of you friends die.


AN: Idea where Team RWBY is KIA and the statue in front of Beacon is replaced with a statue of the girls

Everyday. Everyday Jaune found himself standing at the foot of that damned statue. He should have been in his office, getting ready for tomorrows initiation, but here he was, staring at the eternal stone that stood proudly in front of Beacon.

_"There's too many of them!"_

_"Just hold them off long enough! Hang in there guys, we can do this— AH!"_

_"Ruby, no!"_

_"Yang, be careful, they're everywhere!"_

His breath caught in his throat as he scanned over the faces of the girls, remembering some of the last things he heard Team RWBY say before they were overtaken by the army of Grimm quickly engulfing the streets of Vale. JNPR had been nearby helping the public get to safety while Ruby and her team held off the Grimm to the best of their ability. All they had to do was hold their ground while they waited for reinforcements. Ozpin had been given misleading information regarding whereabouts of a Grimm wave that was unleashed by Cinder, the Crimson Witch and took many of the teachers at both Signal and Beacon with him.

Little did they know, they left Vale wide open for attack, leaving the students of both academies to their own devices when it was flooded.

_"We have to get her out of here!"_

_"There's no place to go! We're surrou— hRK-!"_

_"Blake!"_

The memory of the sounds of their panicked yelling scraped against Jaune's skull like knives. Hands reached up to grip his tresses, trying to keep himself under control. He couldn't break down here. Not now. Not in front of his school. He… He had to…

He dropped onto his knees.

_"Jaune! Get back! We cannot afford anyone else getting hurt!"_

_"You need help! We can help!"_

_"And put the public in danger? Jaune, listen to me, this is what we've been training to do. Save people and hunt monsters."_

_"But…"_

_"Go!"_

Jaune wished he would have helped. Not a day goes by that he doesn't think about what would have been if he ignored the ice princess's orders. They would have been here. By his side. Talking. Breathing…

He felt his chest tighten, horrifying images of blood and heart wrenching sounds of terror struck him. He felt tears welling up at the corners of his eyes. No. He couldn't cry. He shouldn't. Someone would see him…

His shoulders shook.

He remembered getting the last person to safety, turning around and watching RWBY's final moments together.

Blake had been bleeding, cut too deep to save, but still managed to get up onto her feet, using Gambol Shrouds cleaver as a crutch. He was practically watching the life drain from her.

Weiss had been beaten, bruised, and Jaune swore her ankle wasn't supposed to bend that way. She stood in front of the group being that she was the only one who could stand for the most part.

Ruby had been in Yang's arms, slowly coming to the conclusion that they weren't going to make it out. He could hear tired, mumbled apologies escape the little red leader.

Yang… Yang was broken. Shattered. He could hear her sobs, her reassurments. It broke his heart. No one should ever have to hold their dying sibling.

Then, he heard the last thing to ever come from the little red leaders mouth; words that Jaune would never forget—

"Professor Arc?"

A worried voice came from behind him. Jaune's froze, sucking in a breath. He whipped around, standing back up to his feet and facing the child behind him. A second year student. Her name escaped him in his mental haze, but that didn't matter at the moment.

"Are you… okay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm… fine." He tried lying. The girl looked at him sadly.

"Professor, we know you come out here every night… We can hear you…" She commented. Jaune let out a sigh, pressing his hands to his face, rubbing away stray tears.

He gave her a deflated half-smile. "You caught me, Miss Aethis… You just found your headmaster getting… getting caught up in his own past."

"…Do you think about that day?" She asked. She didn't have to be specific with him.

"Every single time."

The day Vale lost RWBY was a day that was burned into everyone's memories. She'd only been a small child then, but she remembered everything about that day, too.

She looked to the ground then back up to him. "I know you're devastated about losing them… I know they were you're friends. But they weren't the only heroes that day."

She held out a hand to him.

"Come on, Professor. It's getting cold. Come on inside."

Jaune smiled shortly at his pupil, taking her hand and allowing her to pull him back inside. He made one more look back at the statue, immobilizing the memories of Team RWBY.

The last words little Ruby Rose managed to say echoed softly in his head.

_"At least now we'll always be together."_


End file.
